Measure Incrementality of Creatives
See how each ad is doing, whether the result is real, and what to do about it.
Creative shows you which ads are driving real revenue and what to do about each one, so you can scale the creative that works, fix what's holding strong tactics back, and stop spending on ads that aren't adding anything.
It answers three questions:
- How is each ad performing?
- Is that performance actually adding revenue?
- What should you do next?
Creative has two tabs:
- Intelligence shows every ad as a card with its performance and a recommended action.
- Incrementality shows whether each tactic (the way an ad is used to reach people, such as prospecting or retargeting) and format combination is genuinely adding revenue, based on your promoted model.
When each tab becomes available
Intelligence works as soon as your ad data is connected. Incrementality, and the recommendations that depend on it, unlocks once you promote a model on the Models page. Incremental returns always come from your champion model (the model you've promoted as your trusted source of results), never from a default.
Score and act on every ad
Intelligence gives you a clear verdict on every ad in one view, so you can see at a glance which ads to back and which to fix or stop.
Each card shows the ad's media, its Creative Strength score, its key metrics, and one recommended action.
Creative Strength
Creative Strength is a 0 to 100 score of how the ad performs against its peers on the same channel and tactic. Comparing ads with their true peers means a retargeting ad is never judged against a prospecting ad, for example.
- Strong: 72 and above
- Solid: 50 and above
- Watch: 30 and above
- Weak: below 30
The score measures how the ad performed, not the creative in isolation. The info icon on each card explains this.
Recommended actions
- Scale: the ad is strong and profitable. Put more budget behind it.
- Refresh: fix or rotate the creative.
- Maintain: leave it running as is.
- Pause: stop the ad.
How Pause is decided
A low score alone never triggers Pause. An ad is only recommended for pausing when it also fails the economics check (it is not returning its spend) or its delivery has collapsed from audience fatigue (the audience has seen it so often that it no longer responds). This protects ads that score modestly but still pay for themselves.
[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Incrementality tab with summary tiles and matrix]
See what's truly incremental
Incrementality tells you whether an ad's results are real revenue you wouldn't otherwise have earned, or demand that would have arrived anyway.
Summary tiles
The summary tiles give you the overall picture before you read any rows:
- Synergy Pairs: tactic and format combinations where strong creative is running on a genuinely incremental tactic.
- Drag Pairs: healthy tactics held back by weak creative. Fix the ad, keep the tactic.
- Cannibal Pairs: combinations where the tactic is re-crediting demand you would have gotten anyway.
- Incremental Revenue: modeled revenue added by your Synergy pairs.
- Revenue at Risk: modeled revenue being forfeited by Drag and Cannibal pairs.
- Saveable Budget: spend on ads recommended for pausing.
- Active Spend in Play: total spend across everything shown.
How the numbers are calculated
Numbers marked MODELED come from your promoted model. Every tile's tooltip states exactly how it is calculated, and tiles always add up to the rows beneath them, so you can trace any figure back to its source.
Find where money is leaking
The matrix maps every tactic against every format, so you can see which combinations to grow, fix, or stop.
How to read it
Rows are tactics, and columns are asset types (image, video, text). Each cell shows a state and its action:
- Synergy leads to Scale
- Neutral leads to Move
- Drag leads to Refresh
- Cannibal leads to Stop
Stop versus Pause
You Stop a tactic and format strategy; you Pause an individual ad. A Stop cell never pauses everything in it. Instead, it resolves to individual ads, so a strong, profitable ad always stays live even inside a cell marked Stop.
Drill into any cell
Click any cell to see its ads in Intelligence, pre-filtered to that combination.
Turn results into action
- Start with the tiles to see the overall balance of incremental revenue, revenue at risk, and saveable budget.
- Open the Drag and Cannibal cells first. That is where money is leaking.
- Check the per-ad breakdown before acting. Cells recommend, ads decide.
- Use Scale recommendations to shift budget toward what is genuinely incremental.
- Treat big findings as hypotheses to test before moving large budgets.
Incrementality figures are modeled relationships from your promoted model. They complement, rather than replace, controlled creative testing and platform delivery analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I see Incrementality results?
Incrementality unlocks once you promote a model on the Models page. Incremental returns come from your champion model, never from a default, so no results appear until a model is promoted.
Do I need a promoted model to use Intelligence?
No. Intelligence works as soon as your ad data is connected. Recommendations that depend on incrementality become available after you promote a model.
What does Creative Strength measure?
It is a 0 to 100 score of how the ad performs against its peers on the same channel and tactic. It reflects how the ad performed, not the creative in isolation.
Why isn't a low-scoring ad recommended for Pause?
A low score alone never triggers Pause. An ad is only recommended for pausing when it also isn't returning its spend or its delivery has collapsed from audience fatigue.
What is the difference between Stop and Pause?
Stop applies to a tactic and format strategy in the matrix. Pause applies to an individual ad. A Stop cell resolves to individual ads, so strong, profitable ads within it stay live.
What is the difference between Drag and Cannibal pairs?
A Drag pair is a healthy tactic held back by weak creative, so the fix is to refresh the ad and keep the tactic. A Cannibal pair is a tactic re-crediting demand you would have gotten anyway, so the tactic itself is the problem.
What does MODELED mean on a tile?
The figure comes from your promoted model. Each tile's tooltip explains exactly how it is calculated.
Why do the tiles match the rows below?
Tiles always add up to the rows beneath them, so every summary figure can be traced back to the underlying detail.
Can I see the individual ads behind a matrix cell?
Yes. Click any cell to open its ads in Intelligence, pre-filtered to that combination.
Should I move large budgets based on Incrementality alone?
Treat big findings as hypotheses to test first. Incrementality figures are modeled relationships that complement, rather than replace, controlled creative testing and platform delivery analysis.
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